Ego, testosterone...do we want the London way of doing things in our part of the UK? Photograph: John Stillwell/PA

Along with five other cities in the north, and six elsewhere, the people of Sheffield are being given the chance to decide if we want to have an elected Mayor. If a majority votes Yes on 3 May, then a contest for the new position will be held in November.

The campaign has not been very high profile. I doubt many Sheffield people even know that the matter is up for decision. This is tragic. Yet again. politics has been left out in the cold. Is that the fault of an apathetic public or of narcissistic political actors?

The arguments for the No campaign have been voiced by, among others, the union Unison. A mass of semi-professional and handmade posters and placards bobbed up and down outside the town hall at the launch of a campaign entitled 'Nightmayor'. The protesters' main argument focused on the cost of the mayor's office - £400,000 they claimed. They also raised questions as to whether the present system of a cabinet needs changing.

The local Labour party's stance is a unanimous No. I spoke to the Opposition leader Ed Miliband on the subject and he said that it was up to local Labour councillors to decide whether they wanted to back a mayoral system of governance.

They told me that their main objection concerned the future running of the city, especially the worry about power being in one person's hands. They were also concerned that an elected mayor would be in the position for four years, with no mechanism in the legislative to remove them. Check out Doncaster, they said, for one possible set of consequences.

Sheffield's Conservative party is also backing the Yes vote. The main rhetoric from the Tories is that an elected mayor will put power back into the hands of Sheffield people and that a directly elected mayor will be accountable to them. Local members appear to be following the party line on this issue and have had plenty of time to discuss it. It was the Localism Bill, introduced by the coalition government in 2010, which included the measures to give 12 cities around the country the powers to have elected mayors if voters approved.

So the low-profile campaign so far has produced some strange political bedfellows. It is not that often that you find the Tories on the same side as some prominent members of unions.

As for the lack of a excitement, that could down to money, or lack of it. There is none. Movements such as the Yes and No campaigns in the city do not have the funds to stage anything spectacular. Then there is a lack of a platform in which to debate the subject. Limited coverage in the local press has not helped. Social media has been quiet and there just does not seem to be an appetite for the subject.

But is this the failing of the politicians themselves?

Last week I witnessed the spectacle of what has become a farcical ego-driven mayoral contest in London. I was given the chance to go along with the Guardian's political reporter Helene Mulholland who was livce-blogging on an LBC radio hustings involving four of the seven candidates.

Space was at a premium: too many bodies plus the egos of Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone made for a squash. While crushed against the wall, I noticed Boris hand his coat to Ken to hold. The two-second movement solidified the air of subversive class warfare. Ken looked bemused and the coat was ushered away.

The debate was overshadowed by the personal tax issues of Boris and Ken. It was fascinating to see how, although the two men were sat side-by-side, Boris never once looked at Ken. Jenny Jones, the Green Party candidate, later told me that the room was "full of testosterone". The candidates then headed to the studios' roof terrace with that now-famous altercation en route in the lift.

Politics is about personality, but we the voters need to make sure that this does not become bigger than the issues involved. There has been media coverage of the issues in London, but time and again it comes back to Boris and Ken. Genuine arguments sometimes, but always linked about those egos.

Is this what is coming our way if Sheffield elects to have the Mayoral system? Do not rule out our own version of an ego-fuelled contest which bypasses the real politics of real peoples lives. If there is a Yes vote, it will be interesting to see who comes forward for election in November: old New Labour politicians such as David Blunkett? More contemporary local politicians such as the Liberal Democrats' Paul Scriven whose appearances include the promotional video shown here? Or others who have played a major part in recent civic affairs. Might they even tempt back Sir Bob Kerslake from his august position in London to God's own county?

Luke Martin is from Sheffield and worked in a silverware factory and as an RAF chef before taking a politics degree at Sheffield University. He is now studying for an MA in journalism and is at the Guardian on a Scott Trust work placement.